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HF's original series finale Part 1
Erica Harper, who later becomes the series' primary villain, narrates a news special about Harpers Falls in the first of a three part series finale of the original HF. ERICA HARPER: "Hello, my name is Erica Harper. I have worked for WCVZ for twenty years as a news reporter and an anchor. I have loved every minute of working here, and it's been very rewarding. Now, that time in my life is over and a new chapter opens up for me. Today is also an end but a new beginning for somewhere else that I love. (A panorama of Harpers Falls is shown) "This is Harpers Falls, Massachusetts, my home. I was born there, and grew up there. Now, it will become a part of the city of Brockton. Some months ago, the city voted to be consolidated into Brockton. Now Harpers Falls will become a part of Brockton. A lot of people, over the years have called this community home. And I was one of them. "Join me now, as Erica Harper Reports on: Harpers Falls, a look back, and a look ahead. (A montage of historical pictures of the Harpers Falls area) ERICA: "The time was the Revolution, some twenty years after it ended. And at that point of our history, my ancestor, Winthrop Harper, opened up a grist mill on the falls of the Scituate River. The location was called Harper's Falls, because of the location of the mill on the falls. The apostrophe on Harper's was dropped and it became Harpers Falls. The city grew because of it's proximity to Boston, and it's location. "Winthrop married Cecilia Whittemeyer, a belle of Boston society, and they settled in the community which was named after Winthrop. The Harper family tree expanded and grew. We weren't anything like the Putnams, of Salem Witch Trials infamy, but we were close enough. "My ancestor stressed that education was very important. He was a Harvard graduate, and he always cherished his education. So, he bought a nearly closed private school, which had been called Springlake Academy, and renamed it Harper Academy. It was on the backside of the Harper Estate, where our ancestor had taken a former house that had belonged to Springlake's former headmaster and made it into the Harper Mansion. "The name Harper means a lot to everyone, whomever they may be. And our family is very close." (A clip of Sheila Harper Watkins, from Smythewood, Pennsylvania) SHEILA: "My family was always connected to Harper Academy, in some form or other. My grandfather was headmaster, then my Uncle Michael became headmaster. My mother, Michelle, taught orchestra. My cousins all attended Harper, including my spiritual twin, Dylan. So, it would always be a part of our lives. Even after we've gone on to bigger and better things, the fact that we were Harper graduates meant a lot to us." ERICA: "Family, for good or ill, is the ties that bind us all. Some would say that they also gag us, but for the most part, they will always remain. Harpers Falls had always been welcoming to other families and people. (Clip of Joan Wentzel of Syracuse, New York). JOAN: "I had moved in with my daughter, Allison, and her husband, Robert Watkins, and they lived in Harpers Falls after they moved from Merrillton, where they had always lived. It was as if we felt welcome from the first moment we set foot in town. Soon, my younger daughter, Monica, had joined us, and it was wonderful how the town became a great big family in and of itself." (Clip of Susannah Lucas of Somerset, Illinois) SUSIE: "My best friend, Anyssa, was living in Harpers Falls. In some way, because she and I were so close growing up, it became my home as well. Because I was working with my company at a business venture in the Boston area, working with Amanda McKinley of McKinley Industries, Harpers Falls really had became my home away from home. When I had my health scare, it was not only my hometown of Somerset that prayed for me, and worried for me; but Harpers Falls did too. The lions share of Anyssa's family and friends came to town to be with me, and to be there for me when I came out of surgery. Anyssa even worked it to bring almost EVERYONE she knew to Somerset so she could get married and I could attend. Not too many people can say that a town cares as much as Harpers Falls cares. I am proof of that." ERICA: "Many people have come in and out of our town over the course of the years, and while people do come back, other's unfortunately, have not come back." (Clip of Karen Lowenstein of Queens, New York) KAREN: "I worked for the Mercier family in Harpers Falls, and they were close as my own family was. Until the day that they lost their lives in a plane crash in Switzerland. It's been hard since I lost them, and even though it's been a while since it's happened, I still miss them to this very day." ERICA: "Many internationally known companies made their home in Harpers Falls. One of the most famous is my family's company, Harper Industries. Running the company is my sister, Michelle. (Clip of Michelle Harper of Brockton) MICHELLE: "I never saw it coming. I was happy being an orchestra teacher at Harper Academy, and then I find out that I was now holding the reins of a Fortune 500 company. Only in America, as they say." Category:Episodes Category:Hall of Fame Episodes